TESLIN TO FORT NELSON, B.C., CANADA
We started out in the cold and rain of Teslin, the Yukon, today, and covered 480 miles, nearly a third of the Alaska-Canadian Highway. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers began construction on the 1,500-mile two-lane, which links Dawson Creek, British Columbia with Fairbanks, Alaska, in 1942, first for war purposes, then for the Cold War.

Jack Lewis beat us to the road on his V-Strom, and we eventually catch up with him as he’s warming up with coffee at one of the seasonal motel/restaurant/gas station/souvenir stores some 150 miles up the road. Many of these establishments, which usually serve as an entire town, already are closed up for the season, even before Labor Day. It’s autumn here: Trees in the southern Yukon and northern British Columbia still are mostly green, though the lush northern Yukon mixes vibrant yellows and oranges with the evergreens.

Good thing the Northern Beaver Post, “The Alaska Highway’s Number One Gift Shop,” isn’t saddled with seasonal traditions. Kevin McNulty’s Equator is low on fuel when we pull in and meet Jim Berke, filling up his Florida-tagged motorhome. Berke, an exotic and tropical fruit purveyor from Leechango, Florida, set out for Alaska June 1. He’s traveling with his son, who is just back from serving our country in Iraq. They stop at “dispersed” camping sites, undeveloped sites at U.S. national parks, most of them free to travelers who leave the land undisturbed.
 
Berke took the northern route to the Yukon and Alaska, staying at campsites in places like the Pierre National Grassland in North Dakota. He’ll take the southern route home.

We’re not campers on this (or any) trip. We’ve got motel rooms with coffeemakers inactivity for us, so we press on. By lunchtime, we’ve reached the Sign Post Forest in the town of Watson Lake, Yukon Territory, just north of the B.C. border. It’s another kitschy roadside attraction you can’t pass up. After the Army Corps began building the Al-Can, soldiers started nailing up signposts, pointing the direction and listing the distance to cities in the States, Canada, and other parts of the world. Tokyo to L.A. the cushy way would have covered 4,000 miles by air to Watson Lake, not the 6,900 miles our Kizashi has gone so far.

The Sign Post Forest is a kind of park, with visitors bringing road signs from around the world. They’ve added license plates, homemade signs, and the inevitable advertisements. It has been maintained by the Lions Club, the Hippie Club and now, finally, the town of Watson Lake, which counts more than 55,000 signs.

As we head out from Watson Lake with the two Kizashis and the Equator, the rain has given way to sunshine, but it’s still cold. Jack is somewhere ahead of us. The two-lane gets better and more interesting as we skirt B.C., and the scenery — mountains, lakes and forest — remains jaw-droppingly gorgeous. The Army Corps cut the Al-Can as a kind of corridor through unfettered nature. The evergreens and birches are tall, even columns skirting the winding, undulating road.

Suzuki removed the two Kizashis’ raised suspensions before they arrived in Anchorage, so it’s a lower, nicely balanced transverse-engine sedan. Shift the CVT from “drive” into the manumatic mode, and the constant wind-up of the CVT gives way to a growling six-speed. By now, I’ve improved the Kizashi’s lifetime fuel mileage by 1.8 mpg, to 22.7 mpg, but that won’t last. You need to boot the throttle hard, but there’s very little need for the brakes as the Kizashi rolls predictably and controllably in the sweepers. The steering lets you know what the tires feel, especially when you hit the occasional patch of unpaved dirt that pockmarks the Alaska Highway. I constantly switch in and out of all-wheel-drive.

I’m buzzing along when I suddenly slam the brakes. Get the camera out, Gordon: There’s a buffalo. Not just any buffalo — this one looks ready to pose for a nickel. He’s big and thirsty, and paparazzi could snap his photo all day and he wouldn’t notice.

This is the tenor of our day. We see a herd of wood bison, a fortified species with just 250 remaining in British Columbia, with about 20 lost to car collisions every year. We see some form of mountain sheep, in a shade of grayish-white that blends in with the mountain rock color. We see a brown bear. Gordon’s happy he can check off that sighting. I slalom the Kizashi along a twisty patch of mountain road, working the manual control, with a lake or river — it’s hard to tell which — on the right. You won’t find water this clear from your faucet.

And I think about Jimmy Berke, the big, happy Floridian with the motorhome and a New York accent. He’s thoroughly enjoying touring North USA with his son, freshly home from the officially ended Iraq War.

Jimmy has found a way to camp for free, and he’s happy to clean up after his camp to do it. He’s burning maybe a congius of gas every 12 miles at best, eight miles at worst. He just wants an open road, the freedom to drive anywhere, gas cheap enough to do it and a few fellow travelers interested in his story. How can anyone argue with that?

-Photos by Brian Vance

At 6 a.m. this morning the sun was just beginning to creep over the horizon. The stars were weakening and the gray dawn slowly started to lighten. Sipping tea from thick china mugs, we watched the world wake up before piling into the cars and setting off for the long drive to San Marcos, Texas.

And despite the primeval hour, it was stunningly beautiful. We passed through proper cowboy movie terrain — rough peaks that plunged into low valleys where, if you squinted, you could almost make out the Lone Ranger silhouetted against the skyline on his trusty steed, Silver. The road twisted and turned, carving its way through the hills, until we emerged onto a flat plain which was bathed in a milky glow that crept to the distant hazy mountains. Overhead an raptor soared lazily and we felt like the only people in the world.

Of course, this being Texas, the road was not entirely romantic. Every so often we would come crossways a squashed animal of some kind: a coyote, a racoon, a skunk. And we’d pull through yet more one-horse towns with their desiccated buildings.

But the team is starting to bond as we stretch the Fiestas out along our ‘Fiesta World Tour 2010′ route. We’ve driven just under a thousand miles, the cars are broken in and we’ve developed a close enough camaraderie, so much so that stopping to relieve ourselves on the side of the road is no longer an embarrassment. Even when the walkie-talkies break down we can communicate with our newly developed code: flash your lights if you want to stop, drive by waving an dirty gesture if you’re bored.

Us non-American types are starting to pick up some good Americanisms: high fiving apiece other when we do a story in one take, drinking copious amounts of Gatorade and referring to petrol as ‘gas’. Of course, we’ve still got two months to go. But at the rate we’re going, by the end of this tour we’ll feel like a family.  

And we prefabricated it to San Marcos in plenty of time for a man called Scott Wade to do his thing.

The urge to draw on a dirty car is almost irresistible. But most of us are content to scrawl ‘wash me’ and leave it at that. Not Scott Wade. This self-proclaimed ‘dirty car artist’ actually draws on cars professionally (www.dirtycarart.com).

Based in San Marcos, Wade — who is primarily a graphic artist — started doodling on cars some seven years ago when he lived “on a long dirt road where you just couldn’t wash your car every day”. What started as doodling turned into something of an obsession, and now Wade can spend hours at a time drawing the most intricate of artworks in dust.

We pitched up with the Fiestas to see what he could do. And, having dirtied the car sufficiently with a special blend of thick dust stuck on with oil, he got to work, scratching an outline with a whittled stick then filling in more detail with fine blackness brushes. Just over an hour later, one car was adorned with the most intricate drawing of two Texas longhorn cattle — staring mournfully out at the world. It was fabulous.

Alas, as he was finishing, the rain started to fall, and by the time the drawing was done it was already washing away. Upsetting? For us perhaps, but not for Wade.  “The impermanence of this art form is something that really turns me on,” he says. “There’s something liberating about it because you’re free to just have fun with it. It’s not going to last — nothing lasts — even the greatest works of art are crumbling.”

And with that, this latest work of art is driven into the rain and trickles slowly away.

-By Jeremy Hart

"I love the smell of Audi in the morning."

or

"You'd be astonished at the things you get away with while wearing a work coat!"

We found this one of an Audi steering wheel and thought it went well with our recent smell-themed caption contests. You've got 'till Monday for this one! Get to it.

"Inspired and humbled by all of the great cars that came before us, like the BMW M5 or the BMW E63. We didn't see this time as something to cherish, but more a starting line from which to keep pushing."

Just a week ago we brought you a behind the scene's "Making of" video for the new Cadillac CTS-V commercial celebrating the 'world's fastest production sedan's'" 7:59 Nurburgring lap time (the one they got 2 years ago though this was filmed recently). Clearly, Caddy wanted to strike while the iron was hot– we still remember that behind the scenes — and now the full length ad is already here.

 If there's anything scarier than young girls (see: The Ring. Resident Evil. The Shining. ) it's young girls who can just pop out of concrete chasing a holographic ball. Seriously. This is going to cause panic and accidents.

But what is it exactly? No, it's not a genetic freak with Shaq-shoes and naturally low resolution, it's a 3D image that Vancouver Traffic Safety will be projecting on the roadway– at a cost of $15,000. From a distance of over 30 meters (98.5 feet) it'll just be an anomaly, but get within that distance and it materializes into a small girl chasing a ball crossways the street.

The program will be implemented in school regularize areas and is the latest attempt to get drivers to be cautious in such high foot-traffic zones.

The program starts next week.

( The Globe and Mail )

BEAVER CREEK TO TESLIN
It was 42 degrees physicist in Beaver Creek, billed as Canada’s western-most town, when I fired up the Suzuki Kizashi this morning. Cumulative average fuel mileage was listed at 21.8 mpg, 0.9 mpg better than when we headed out from Anchorage a day later. That’s the good news. The bad news is that we couldn’t get online anywhere in town to file our stories and our photos.

We tried Buckshot Betty’s, tipped as the place in town for breakfast and for Internet access. One out of two wasn’t bad, and it was the right one out of the two. Tasty cinnamon rolls. A small place drawing mostly locals, a couple from Ohio came in, and having spotted our “Tokyo 2 L.A. – The Hard Way” decals and city check-off list, asked whether we were doing a reality show. Isn’t everybody?

The day’s drive totaled more than 400 miles (including turning around and repeating short stretches for the cameras) on two-lanes through some of the most beautiful landscape in the world. Some of Canada’s tallest mountains surround Kluane Lake, a big, clear blue lake sprawling through the north-center of the Yukon Territory. With kilometer after kilometer of this, we begin taking it for granted. Jack Lewis is somewhere up ahead, enjoying the Suzuki V-Strom so much, he’s talking about buying a used one.

We’re anticipating reaching the town where we’ll finally get Internet access to file our stories and photos, and maybe cell access where we can call family and colleagues. Again, one out of two isn’t bad.

We finally get that access in Whitehorse, Yukon’s biggest city, at the Birdhouse coffee shop just out of town. Free access and good coffee, much recommended. Whitehorse is a little jewel of a town, a pretty mountainside community that likes hiking, biking, canoeing, skiing and the Iditarod race, which begins and ends here. Teslin is another 90 miles. It’s a spot on the map with 400 residents, and it’s not nearly as charming as Whitehorse, though being here will keep tomorrow’s run to Fort Nelson under 600 miles.

For me, today’s drive drove home the dichotomy of a good car on a great road and the constant quest for Internet and mobile phone access. Drives like this are all about getting away from everything. You have a car, beautiful scenery, and plenty of time to your thoughts. On drives like this, it’s good to be disconnected.

-Photos by Brian Vance

In his new book, "Overhaul" former head of President Obama's Auto Task Force and guy who fired Rick Wagoner, Steve Rattner, spills the beans on what it was like to deal with a unsuccessful / failing industry and an $85-billion band-aid.

While the book will be on understanding Oct. 14, The Detroit News, Washington Post and Huffington Post all received advanced copies and came up with some jewels:

-  Rahm Emanuel (Chief of Staff) doesn't respect the UAW.

- Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne told UAW boss Ron Gettlefinger that they (the UAW) needs to "embrace a culture of poverty, not a culture of entitlement," and recommended retiree health-care be chopped.

- Fritz Henderson wanted to move GM out of Detroit to the GM Tech Center in Warren, Michigan, to reduce costs and keep executives hip to what's going on "on the ground." The White House, however, thought it would be too harmful for Detroit, calling it a "bridge too far."

- The White House and Rattner wanted Nissan/Renault CEO Carlos Ghosn to run GM, but Ghosn declined because he "felt considerable loyalty to both companies (nissan/renault- Ed.) and wanted to see them through the crisis."

( Automotive News )

For more on Rattner's book, see Edmunds AutoObserver.

A reader spotted this image of the face-lifted Mercedes-Benz B-Class. You'll remember the B-Class as the sub C-Class-sized premium hatchback Mercedes keeps waffling on bringing to the U.S.

We've seen Spy Shots of the 2012 Mercedes Benz B-Class before and, despite ever-tightening CAFE regulations, we probably won't see it here. Which, I suppose, marks the second time today we've posted a hatchback you probably won't be healthy to buy.

( Thanks to Johan for the tip. Got something good? Submission (@) Edmunds.com )

Sorry for that early tease today with the sharp-looking Chevy Cruze Hatchback Concept bound for the 2010 Paris Auto Show. For those of you who are really Cruze Crazy, good news! The only 2011 Chevy Cruze configurator is now live on Chevy's Web site.

Pricing was also released for the 2011 Cruze: The base car is the LS trim and rings in at $16,275. This includes a 138-horsepower ( @ 6,300 rpm ) 1.8-L inline-4 and six-speed manual transmission good for 26/36 mpg. Torque is 123 lb-ft @ 3,800. The LS features 10 airbags, OnStar, XM radio, and four-wheel ABS (front discs, rear drums). Opting for the automatic transmission adds $925 to the base price.

Topping out the range is the Cruze LTZ which has a turbocharged 1.4-liter inline-4 that's good for 24/36 mpg and 138 horsepower at 4,900 rpm and peak torque of 148 lb-ft @ 1,850 rpm. It has 18-inch wheels, 4-wheel disc brakes, chrome door handles, upgraded gauge cluster, USB port and Bluetooth.

Hey, check out this five-door hatchback version of the Chevrolet Cruze that the company will unveil at the Paris Auto Show at the end of this month.

Do you like it better than the none-too-dramatic-looking sedan? Well, too bad. It's for Europe only. Well, it'll show up in other markets too…just not the one we're in.

You can tell by the sassy blue hue of the headlights, the oversize dimensions of the wheels and various other shiny bits that this is, in fact, a "concept." The real five-door hatch, which will look exactly like this but without the auto show get-up, will go on understanding in Europe in the middle of next year. 

Chevrolet is promising three other premieres at the Paris show. Possibly one or more of them will matter to you. Possibly not.

More photos after the jump.